New York City is made up of five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Each one has enough attractions—and enough personality—to be a city all its own. Learn more about them with this guide.

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As might be expected of the neighborhood that's given us Paul Auster and Jonathan Safran Foer, Park Slope is home to its share of welcoming book shops. Among them: Community Bookstore, which has been a neighborhood institution for more than four decades. In addition to finding a selection of tomes from independent presses and local writers, you may also encounter some of the store's pets—including a cat and two turtles—while you shop. PowerHouse on 8th, an offshoot of PowerHouse Arena in DUMBO, recently opened on a quiet stretch of Eighth Avenue. It sells stationery along with cookbooks, fashion titles, YA novels and other Slope-appropriate material. Music fans will love Music Matters, which stocks its small space with inventory based on "neighborhood demand" and offers a buy-15-get-1-free vinyl punch card, and Fifth Avenue Records and Tapes, helmed by charming, funny owner Anthony Mignone. If you're patient enough to deal with a cramped space and a relative lack of organization, you can unearth gems hidden in the crates of $1 and $2 used LPs. Finally, there's Premium Goods, where sneakerheads will find an extensive selection of collectible footwear and street wear, some designed in-house.—JZ